Son of Sam - Songs from the Earth

(Nitro Records) www.nitrorecords.com

Stitched together like a Super-Frankenstein from spare Samhain and AFI parts, Son of Sam play retro death rock muscled up with a jolt of metal aggression. Davey Havoc's Danzig on ice vocals roll around in the graveyard dust as the band covers all of the foggy ground that neo-goth types adore- speedy vampire punk and the kind of dark proto-power metal that latter day Misfits hinted at. Strangely, the lyrics are more along the lines of posi-punk (wrapped in dark cloaks of barbed wire poetry, but optimistic, nonetheless),than the usual blood and tears obsessed tombstone rubbings favored by most necromantic bands. Oh, they still dress like the undead, but they're corpses with soul. Son of Sam is a whole new cloak and dagger thrill for fans of the Damned, 45 Grave, skull faces in top hats, and the people that own the dark, whoever they are.